Husker Baseball Hosts No. 4 Texas this Weekend

Nebraska Baseball: 2007 Record (22-15, 7-8 Big 12)
Rankings: NR (CB) ? NR (BA) ? NR (Sports Weekly) ? NR (NCBWA)

This Week’s Schedule
Fri., April 20 6/5/4 Texas (31-11, 12-3 Big 12) -- 7:05 p.m.
Sat., April 21 6/5/4 Texas  Hawks Field  -- 3:05 p.m.
Sun., April 22 6/5/4 Texas  Hawks Field  -- 12:05 p.m.

Probable Starters
Fri. NU-Tony Watson, Jr., LHP (3-2, 3.36 ERA, 50 K, 56.1 IP) 
       UT-James Russell, Jr., LHP (8-2, 3.15 ERA, 66 K, 71.1 IP)

Sat. NU-Johnny Dorn, Jr., RHP (6-1, 4.47 ERA, 39 K, 54.1 IP)
        UT-Adrian Alaniz, Jr., RHP (9-2, 2.30 ERA, 59 K, 66.2 IP)

Sun. NU-TBA 
          UT-Joseph Krebs, Sr., LHP (4-0, 2.91 ERA, 47 K, 58.2 IP)

Follow the Huskers This Week
Live Radio: Husker Sports Network (see network list on page 4) and for free on Huskers.com
Satellite Radio: Saturday and Sunday’s games will be on SIRIUS Satellite Radio (Channel 140)
TV: All three games of the Nebaska-Texas series will be televised: Friday (NET/CSTV), Saturday (FSN (clearance list), Sunday (ESPNU Time Warner Cable Ch. 235)
Live Stats: Huskers.com   
Live Video: Friday’s games will be carried on HuskersNside

Husker Baseball Hosts No. 4 Texas this Weekend
The Nebraska baseball team continues its 15-game homestand this weekend, as the Huskers welcome fourth-ranked Texas to Lincoln for a three-game series Hawks Field at Haymarket Park. The times of all three games have been changed from the original schedule listed on the season tickets. Friday’s first pitch is now set for 7:05 p.m. with afternoon contests set for both Saturday (3:05 p.m.) and Sunday (12:05 p.m.).

General Admission seats are available for $7 and $5 and can be purchased at the Hawks Field Ticket window  beginning 90 minutes prior to first pitch, while UNL Students are free with their student ID. A large turnout for the weekend series is expected and fans are encouraged to park downtown and take the pedestrian connector to the ballpark. In addition, overflow parking areas will also be available at Haymarket Park.

All three games will be carried across the state on the Husker Sports Network, including KLIN 1400 AM in Lincoln, KFAB 1110 AM in Omaha and KRVN 880 AM in Lexington and for free on the Internet at Huskers.com.  Both Saturday and Sunday’s games will be carried on SIRIUS Satellite Radio (Ch. 140).

This weekend’s entire series against the Longhorns will also be televised to a national audience. Friday’s opener will be carried state-wide on Nebraska Educational Television (NET and NET-HD) and simulcast on CSTV. Saturday’s contest will be shown throughout most the country on FSN (check local cable or satellite providers for broadcast info), while Sunday’s series finale will be carried live on ESPNU, as part of the network’s ESPNU Invitational series throughout the spring.

The Huskers head into the weekend with a 22-15 record after dropping a 2-1 decision to Creighton Tuesday night. Nebraska received a strong performance from junior right-hander Matt Foust, who set career bests in both innings (eight) and strikeouts (five) in a losing effort. Andy Gerch and Craig Corriston had two hits apiece in the loss. NU, which is in fifth place in the Big 12 with a 7-8 mark, will look to regain momentum this weekend, as the Huskers seek their third consecutive series win over a ranked opponent.

Texas comes to town with a 31-11 record after losing its mid-week game at Rice on Tuesday night. The Longhorns lead the Big 12 with a 12-3 record, 2.5 games ahead of second-place Oklahoma State. UT leads the Big 12 in ERA (3.53) and fielding percentage (.978) and is second in hitting (.325).

Nebraska Series Changes vs. Texas
The University of Nebraska Athletic Department and the Big 12 Conference announced several time changes for this weekend’s Nebraska-Texas baseball series at Hawks Field. The changes allow all three games of the weekend series to be televised nationally and are different than the times listed on the original tickets included with season-ticket packages.

Friday’s series opener has been pushed back to a 7:05 p.m. start and will be carried across the state on Nebraska Educational Television (NET-1 and NET-HD) and simulcast nationally on CSTV. Saturday’s game will now start at 3:05 p.m., as the contest was selected as part of the Big 12’s television package with FSN.

Sunday’s series finale against the Longhorns has been selected by ESPNU as one of their five nationally televised games during the 2007 season. The start time for Sunday’s game is now 12:05 p.m. and the game can be seen on DirecTV (Ch. 609) and Dish Network (Ch. 148) and on Ch. 220 on Cox Cable in Omaha.

Leading Off
?-The Huskers began a 15-game homestand on Tuesday against Creighton - the longest homestand by the Huskers since 1992. Entering this weekend, the Huskers had played just 13 home games, the fewest of any Big 12 team.

?-The weekend series against Texas features the two flagship programs of the Big 12. The two teams have combined to win at least a share of the Big 12 title (regular season or tournament) in each of the past eight seasons. Nebraska’s three CWS appearances since 2000 are second among Big 12 teams to Texas’ five appearances in Omaha, while last season marked the first time since 1999 that neither Texas nor Nebraska reached the CWS.

?-Nebraska is 37-15 (.712) against ranked teams since Hawks Field at Haymarket Park opened in 2002, including an 18-6 (.750) record against top-10 teams.  The Huskers are 2-1 against ranked teams at home this season, taking a series from No. 13 Oklahoma State ealier this month.

?-The Huskers wrap up a stretch this week where they have played 13 of their last 16 games against ranked opponents. The strech began last month against Texas A&M and wraps up this weekend against No. 4 Texas. NU is currently 7-6 overall and 5-5 against ranked foes in this stretch.

?-NU has gotten off to fast starts this season, outscoring its opponents 39-17 in the opening inning of games.

?-Catcher Mitch Abeita has raised his level of play against teams from his home state. The Dallas, Texas, native is hitting .364 with nine of his 12 RBIs in seven games against schools in the Lone Star state, as compared to just .237 in the Huskers’ other contests.

?-The Huskers are second in the Big 12 with 51 sacrifices this season, as 13 players have recorded at least one sacrifice bunt this year.

?-Jeff Tezak and Andrew Brown both saw their 15-game hit streaks snapped on Tuesday against Creighton. It had marked the first time in over two years that two Huskers had concurrent hit streaks of at least 15 games. NU has had three hit streaks in double figures (Andy Gerch had a 10-game streak earlier in the year), which eclipsed the entire 2006 team total of two.

?-The Huskers have been on an offensive surge in recent weeks, batting .309 as a team over the last 16 contests after hitting just .271 after 21 contests.  NU, which has reached double figures in hits 10 of the last 12 contests is hitting .313 in April despite taking on three of the top four pitching staffs in the Big 12 and Wichita State, which leads the country in ERA.

?-Several Huskers have enjoyed their best success in two-out situations during the 2007 season. Andy Gerch has driven in 14 of his 18 runs with two outs, while Jake Opitz (16 of 31) and Craig Corriston (12 of 30) have combined to drive in nearly half their runs in two-out situations.

?-Nebraska Head Coach Mike Anderson became the fourth Husker coach to reach 200 career wins in a 5-2 victory over No. 13 Oklahoma State on April 6.

?-Six of Nebraska’s 15 losses this season have come during an opponent’s last at-bat this season, including four in conference play.

?-Nebraska’s bullpen has 13 saves this season, a total that already ranks fifth on single-season charts. Five pitchers have at least one save, including four by Steve Edlefsen and three by Erik Bird and Matt Foust.

?-Nebraska’s triple play against Northern Colorado on March 28 was the first one by the Huskers since the 1998 season and only the sixth in Big 12 history (since 1997). The Huskers join Texas A&M as the only teams to turn more than one triple play, while the last two in league play have both involved the Huskers.

?-Nebraska is one of only seven teams in all of Division I baseball to post team ERAs below 4.00 in each of the last five years, joining Cal State Fullerton, Long Beach State, Oral Roberts, Rice, Texas and Wichita State.

?-The Huskers are 17-3 when out-hitting opponents this spring, but just 5-12 when the opponent has as many or more hits.

?-Nebraska is looking to pick up its first extra-inning win of the year, as the Huskers are 0-2 so far this season. NU won all five of its extra-inning contests during the 2006 campaign.

Tuesday Recap
Tuesday (Creighton 2, Nebraska 1): Matt Foust allowed two runs over eight innings, but Robbie Knight’s eighth-inning squeeze lifted Creighton to a 2-1 victory over the Huskers in front of a season-high crowd of 6,841 at Hawks Field Tuesday night. Foust turned in the best performance of his career, allowing five hits over a career-long eight innings of work. Foust (1-1) matched his career high with five strikeouts and had retired 10 in a row until the Bluejays used a bloop single and a pair of sacrifices to manufacture the go-ahead run in the eighth.

That was enough to make a winner out of reliever Pat Venditte, who pitched two scoreless innings and got Creighton out of a jam in the seventh. Andy Maston then tossed a scoreless ninth, as the Bluejays picked up just their second win over Nebraska at Hawks Field.

The Huskers, who had just six hits, squandered their best scoring opportunity in the bottom of the seventh. NU loaded the bases with no outs, but scored just one run to tie the game at 1-1. Andy Gerch and Craig Corriston had two hits apiece in the losing effort.

Huskers Building Momentum
The Huskers have started to play their best baseball in recent weeks, winning 10 of their last 16 games entering this weekend’s series with Texas. Nebraska  is receiving votes in two of the major baseball polls while being ranked 30th in the puesdo-RPI rankings. NU is 6-5 in 11 games this month, a fact made more impressive when you consider that eight of those contests are against nationally ranked teams, including five road tilts playing in a conference that is ranked second in the RPI rankings. While the Huskers are hitting well over .300 this month, their defense has also come around after a shaky start.  NU has committed one or no errors in 14 of its last 17 contests, raising its fielding percentage to a season-best .965

Scouting Texas
The Longhorns head to Lincoln with a 31-11 record and a ranking as high as fourth in this week’s polls. Under Augie Garrido, who has over 1,600 career wins, the Longhorns are well schooled in all aspects of the game, ranking among the Big 12 leaders in pitching (first), defense (first) and hitting (second). Outfielder Kyle Russell leads an exposive offense, as the sophomore is hitting .359 with a national-best 21 homers and 52 RBIs. Third baseman Bradley Suttle is third in the league with a .405 average with adding 10 homers and 50 RBIs. In fact, UT has six starters hitting above. 300.

The combination of James Russell and Adrian Alaniz anchor a Longhorn staff that has a 3.53 ERA in 42 games. Russell is 8-2 with a 3.15 ERA, striking out 66 over 71.1 innings, while Alaniz is 9-2 with a 2.30 ERA in 66.2 innings of work. The Huskers hold the distinction of being the only Big 12 team with an all-time series lead over the Longhorns, winning 23 of the previous 41 meetings. NU took the series in Austin last April and posted a 6-5 win over the Longhorns at the Big 12 Tournament in Oklahoma City.